** Official Cricketweb Horseracing thread **

[andyc]

A kid in my year bet $30 on the trifecta of Makybe-On a Juene-XCellent.

He's now got $231,000 as an 18th birthday present

[nibbs]

Its a fair call, i think its ridiculous they watered the track, certainly just to make sure Makybe and Vinnie would run, but to be honest i think the horse is so good that it wouldnt have mattered, might of altered the minor placings though, i know Freyer (the trainer of Leica Falcon) wasnt happy at all, along wih other top trainers such as Waterhouse. Guess we'll never know what could have happened though.

xcellent is more suited to hard tracks as well ffs

[benchmark00]

A kid in my year bet $30 on the trifecta of Makybe-On a Juene-XCellent.

He's now got $231,000 as an 18th birthday present

That makes me sick.

I got $4.6 for Makybe off a bookmaker, put only $40 on the nose, come up with about $185. One of my mates got the same odds and put $100 on it, this was a week after he put $500 on the nose of it in the Cox Plate.

[_Ed_]

xcellent is more suited to hard tracks as well ffs

Indeed. He wouldn't have beaten her though but would certainly have been 2nd.

As well as losing a shoe, some of his foot came off at the 1600 when he got his foot stuck in an especially soft part of the track. What a hero.

[thewizard1o1]

Its a fair call, i think its ridiculous they watered the track, certainly just to make sure Makybe and Vinnie would run, but to be honest i think the horse is so good that it wouldnt have mattered, might of altered the minor placings though, i know Freyer (the trainer of Leica Falcon) wasnt happy at all, along wih other top trainers such as Waterhouse. Guess we'll never know what could have happened though.

Don't think it would have mattered the way the race was run, the super quick tempo set it right up for Makybe...

[Blewy]

One thing people need to remember about the watering of the track issue, is that if the track wasnt watered there would have been alot of horses pulling up injured...

The track before watered was relatively hard and with such a hot day it would have dried out quite alot meaning that injuries were a certainty..

Another thing people are forgetting is that tracks are always watered... The reason all the hype is because this time the water suited the favourite and that favourite is one of the best in history, People are looking for any reason to bring her down.. Its always the nature people want to peg the people at the top down...

Yeah other horses might like firm going but Firm and rock hard is a big difference in racing...
The track was dead at the start of the day and the info i got from a trainer who had a horse in the race after the Cup was that it was as close to good as could be without officially being there...

People need to stop making excuses and sit back and admire this champion like she deserves...
No other horse has won 3 Melbourne Cups, not even the great Phar Lap... to run in 3 is a feat on its own...


Makybe you are a Legend!!!!

[Anna]

R.I.P. Best Mate

[howardj]

Can't cop people comparing her to Phar Lap, though. It's a modern day thing that really bugs me - people think that the current champions have to be the best, and that nothing in the past could have ever have been as good. For instance, I remember back in April 1997 when Tiger won his first major, and people said he was the greatest golfer ever, even though Jack Nicklaus had won 12 majors! Anyway, back to the horses....Phar Lap raced 51 times for 37 wins, and was placed in five of the other races. Astonishingly, he was unplaced in his first four starts.

[luckyeddie]

R.I.P. Best Mate

This is something that always intrigues me (you can tell that this is going to be in really bad taste, can't you, just because it's me?)

What happens to the great racehorses (but not the absolute top of the pile) when they turn their hooves up? I appreciate that Red Rum was buried by the winning post at Aintree and had a life-size bronze statue erected at the course, and that no-one really knows what happened to Shergar (although Irish Stew has never tasted so good).

Arkle (the other 3-time Cheltenham Gold Cup legend, and the greatest racehorse of my lifetime) got a nice, dignified burial too, as I suppose Best Mate is bound to really, but what of the others?

Anyway, if Best Mate isn't immortalised in the next few days, watch out for adverts for 'Kennomeat Supreme', 'Pal Plus' or even 'Mr Dog Gold (Cup)' and shares going up in the pet food industry.

You have been warned.

[PY]

He's being buried in Exeter.

[luckyeddie]

He's being buried in Exeter.

Alongside Neil's career?

[PY]

Alongside Neil's career?

You have to have been alive before you can be declared dead and buried.

[_Ed_]

Can't cop people comparing her to Phar Lap, though. It's a modern day thing that really bugs me - people think that the current champions have to be the best, and that nothing in the past could have ever have been as good. For instance, I remember back in April 1997 when Tiger won his first major, and people said he was the greatest golfer ever, even though Jack Nicklaus had won 12 majors! Anyway, back to the horses....Phar Lap raced 51 times for 37 wins, and was placed in five of the other races. Astonishingly, he was unplaced in his first four starts.

Indeed, and Phar Lap carried 62.5kg to win the cup as a 4yo, before of course going over to America and breaking the track record in winning their biggest race of the time.

I don't think you can compare horses from separate generations, better to just accept that they're both great.

[_Ed_]

Seachange continued her unbeaten record with an impressive win in the $275,000 One Thousand Guineas at Riccarton today...four from four now and Aussie jockey Gavin McKeon makes the trip over to ride her every time she starts, looks a pretty talented filly.

[thewizard1o1]

Indeed, and Phar Lap carried 62.5kg to win the cup as a 4yo, before of course going over to America and breaking the track record in winning their biggest race of the time.

I don't think you can compare horses from separate generations, better to just accept that they're both great.

spot on Ed...also after winning the Melb. Cup @ 62.5 he was given 68kg the next year

Both are great horses and will be remembered for a long, long time.